Methodist Pastor To Be Tried For Officiating Son's Gay Wedding
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) - The United Methodist Church has formally charged another clergyman for presiding at the same-sex wedding of his son.
A spokeswoman for the Rev. Thomas Ogletree says he'll be tried March 10 in Connecticut for violating the prohibition against officiating at gay weddings.
It's the latest church trial over the Methodist ban on same-sex marriage. Last month, Methodist pastor Frank Schaefer of Pennsylvania was defrocked after he officiated at his son's gay wedding. The church considers homosexuality "incompatible with Christian teaching.''
The 80-year-old Ogletree is a theologian, a former Yale Divinity School dean and part of the church's New York Conference. Some clergy complained after his son's wedding announcement appeared in The New York Times.
Church law says that marriage is to be between a man and a woman and bans United Methodist clergy from performing and churches from hosting "ceremonies that celebrate homosexual unions," according to the United Methodist Church's website.
Ogletree has said there is no concept of sexual orientation in the Bible, adding "the Scriptures don't counsel us on this."
The church has 12.5 million members worldwide. It's the second-largest Protestant group in the U.S.
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